lagrant,

The Brazilian Black is beautiful stone. It's a harder variety so it will show less wear than the softer varieties. The patina on this stone tends to take more time, but when fading off it shows some color as it changes. Really beautiful stone. Just don't be afraid if the first few oilings fade off quick.

These pictures are from the container we recieved in Sept so what Roger has may look a little different. By now we all know that soapstone quarries change very quick. The overall color will be the same but the veining pattern will change quite a bit.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Hope this helps.

Sorry about the size and don't worry about the worm farm in the last pic, in florida you have to make your own dirt. .lol jk, we love to compost it saves so much trash.

Wow, so beautiful! LAGRANT, I was the one who suggested Avanti a while back for black soapstone (although it looked an awful lot like AB honed to me, thought it was mislabeled). Are you going through GranTops (who M Texeira told me was their DC/MD area shop) or direct from NJ? If from NJ, how does the templating, etc. work? Or is your contractor going to do it? So fascinated. I am still vacilating on what my counters will be.

joshua - thank you SO very much for posting those pictures! Beautiful work. However....my sample, my little 4X4 is a textured black without any green...which is what I want. The texture is perfection to me! Some softer white or grey is fine, but I really want to stay away from the green. I am putting this on the perimeter and calacatta marble on a large island. What is the likelihood of there being a lot of green - such as appears in the first picture above? Should I be looking at Mumbai Grey instead?? Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

ehs20815 - yes, we boogied up to Avanti and they did have what they called "black soapstone". It DOES look just like honed AB, but also more like something called "New Cardosa" at Levantina. If it is related to Pietra de Cardosa then it is not a true soapstone. Something wasn't "right" about it and we decided to pass - but thank you again for the suggestion to check it out!

We think we will be ordering directly from M.Tex. Our perimeter is only 22 sq. ft. We have to have someone do the template and send it up to them. They will do the fabrication and deliver it to us - we then have to install. It's one L shaped, relatively small counter.

SO, I'm still trying to solve this one and the clock is ticking...

Very exciting! I'm so indecisive these days and love hearing about your mission to find the right slab. I wish I knew which "right" slab I was hunting for!

So...Will you install yourself or have your GC do it? I am wondering if my GC would do such a job...seems worth trying since I am having the same issues finding the right soapstone. DH has your taste in soapstone (black or grey, spots ok but no prominent veining). I'd planned to use the White Fantasy quartzite at Avanti (beautiful in its own right, not as a Carrara substitute) but DH doesn't like light counters with our white painted cabs and espresso-stained wood floors.

So, even though our cabs have been delivered and install starts in something like 84 hours...I'm still contemplating countertops.

If I may ask, how does the cost of ordering from M Texeira compare to Avanti, et al? I was getting quotes in the $95-$120 sq/ft range from fabricators like Ivis, US Marble and Norwood (Norwood being the most reasonably priced).

lagrant, I would check with M. Tex to see what the full slabs look like. I know they have some from that quarry that look really black. Some of our slabs from that quarry have some green but overall look black depending on the colors in the room that they are put into. Just let them know what your looking for I'm sure they will be quite helpful.

Good luck and happy hunting.

ehs20815 - we are *thinking* that if it is fabricated by M. Tex. we might be brave enough to install it ourselves. There are zero cut-outs or seams in the area we want the soapstone. One small "L" and one 14" piece next to the range. Our fabricator is giving us the best price for our marble, but doesn't seem to want to get in to the soapstone biz :). We gave him MTex's info and asked if he would fabricate and install. When he came back with a whopping $200 sq/ ft I knew he didn't want the hassle. He would have leftover material that was of little value to him and he likely wouldn't be able to sell anytime soon. So, for our 22 sq. ft., M.Tex will fabricate and ship for less than $100 sq. ft. It seems like the most reasonable way to go about this. I suppose that if I haven't been discouraged after visiting 9 slab yards and talking with 3 fabricators, I should see it through and just order from M.Tex myself!

joshua - thanks for the info - it's a confidence boost to my plan! They really have been great throughout our many phone calls and discussions.